On Monday, September 25, the head of the Ministry of Defense approved one of the offset contracts for Apache helicopters at Boeing's headquarters in Mesa, USA.

The State Department, previously approved the sale of 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to Poland.

The State Department, 6/09 this year, approved the sale of 96 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to Poland. As agreed by the head of the Ministry of Defense with Secretary of Defense L. Austin, until the procedures are completed and the purchased helicopters are delivered to Poland, the US Army will provide us with Apache helicopters from its own resources. The acquisition of 96 APACHE attack helicopters will effectively increase the capability to deter a potential aggressor.

- Military Aviation Plant No. 1 in Łódź will service the radars that are on board Apache helicopters and the system that is used to guide missiles. This is the first of a series of offset agreements. We start with offset agreements because that is what Polish law requires. We are in the process of negotiating the specific terms for the acquisition of 96 Apache attack helicopters. We estimate that later this year we will sign the executive contract. We want the delivery dates to be as soon as possible, but I would also like to assure you that I have an agreement with the US administration, with Secretary of Defense L. Austin, that as early as next year, Apache helicopters from US Army resources will be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces in the form of leases

- Minister M. Blaszczak said after the agreement was approved.

- Polish pilots, here in the United States, are already training as to precisely how to use these helicopters. The task of these helicopters will be to close the "Brest Gate", so they will work together with Abrams tanks. They will be at the disposal of the Polish ground forces, especially the 18th Mechanized Division, which is already being equipped with Abrams tanks. Its task will be to defend the Brest direction. This is a direction that has been used many times in the history by Russian forces both in the period of Tsarist and Red Russia. Now anticipating attacks, we intend to make the Polish Armed Forces so strong that Russia will not dare to invade our territory. Apache attack helicopters together with Abrams tanks will ensure our security on the Brest direction

- the head of the Ministry of Defense noted.

The helicopters will go to the eastern flank of NATO, to the 18th Mechanized Division. These are the world's best attack helicopters. This is a very modern and combat-proven platform - at the same time it is a new quality for the Polish Military, which is bidding farewell to outdated post-Soviet designs. The Apaches will be designed to work with Abrams tanks - a combat-proven, long-developed and highly effective American model.

- The order of 96 helicopters is well thought out. This is exactly the number we need to realistically and effectively deter an aggressor. Apache helicopters are among the best in the world. They work great together with tanks in particular. Our division, the 18th Mechanized Division, is built on the model of American units. Thank you for the close cooperation. Especially with the V Corps of the US Army, the advanced element of which is permanently, and I emphasize this very strongly, stationed in Poland. Regular training sessions are held, where Polish soldiers together with American soldiers improve their skills. We adopt the best models. This is because American ground troops are the strongest in the world, so we learn from the best. Our goal is to prevent Russian incursion. We are all well aware of the attempts to rebuild the Russian empire. The best answer to these attempts is to create strong Polish Armed Forces. This process is currently taking place. Today the Polish Military has 180,000 soldiers under arms

- Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in the United States.

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The subject of the offset agreement is, among other things, the acquisition of support, repair and maintenance capabilities for key helicopter components used in combat and reconnaissance, including guidance and target indication systems. Thanks to this agreement, capabilities will also be established in the Polish defense industry for the diagnosis and verification of possible malfunctions and partial servicing of LONGBOW fire control radars.

The above capabilities should ensure that APACHE helicopters maintain a high level of operational availability during their service with the Polish Armed Forces.

The offset agreement covers a total of two commitments worth a total of about 300 million PLN, which will be fulfilled within 5 years. This is the first of several agreements that the Treasury intends to conclude as part of the acquisition of AH-64E attack helicopters.